Dearest e-votees-
I have started posting e-vos as a blog. For those who are so inclined you can receive them through a Feedblitz subscription by going to www.rlcpdx.org and clicking on e-vo.
If you wish to keep receiving them through direct e-mail do nothing and I will keep sending them.
I pray that your Advent is going well.
Peace,
Karl
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When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”
As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, ‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’ Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”
I have started posting e-vos as a blog. For those who are so inclined you can receive them through a Feedblitz subscription by going to www.rlcpdx.org and clicking on e-vo.
If you wish to keep receiving them through direct e-mail do nothing and I will keep sending them.
I pray that your Advent is going well.
Peace,
Karl
----
When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”
As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, ‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’ Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”
This exchange between John’s disciples and Jesus (parallel account found in Luke 7:18-23) is striking.
John who recognized Jesus in utero and leapt for joy… (Luke 1:39-45)
John who recognized that Jesus was coming and declared he wasn’t worthy to even loose the ties on his sandals… (Matthew 3:11, Mark 1:7, Luke 3:16, John 1:27)
John who declared that he must decrease that Jesus might increase… (John 3:30)
This same John who now sits in prison after calling King Herod out for marrying his brother’s wife—not long for this world—seems to be trying to understand if this Jesus is who he thought.
Do we find ourselves in a place like John?
Have we had a faith for many years—as far back as we can remember—that maybe doesn’t seem to serve as well as it once did? Are we wondering about this Jesus?
Have we taken a bold stand against something that is patently wrong and found ourselves in a precarious place as a result? Can we hear the dance music of Herodias firing up? (see Matthew 14:1-12, Mark 6:17-29)
Have we been languishing in a cell or in a rut or in a situation that looks like it will be our lot from here on out? Do we wonder why we have been relegated to this fate and wonder what has become of this Jesus that we had greeted with such high expectations?
It is striking that Jesus—the one who would go on to spring the dead from their graves—chose not to spring John from Herod’s prison cell.
It is striking that Jesus—the one who would open the eyes of the blind—didn’t do more to open up John’s eyes to the nature and reality of the coming kingdom.
It is striking that Jesus—the one who brings good news to the poor, release to the captive and justice to the oppressed—leaves John languishing in bad news and wrongly imprisoned.
How do we make sense of such things?
How do we make sense of the things that press in on us that seem just as unfair and unjust and imprisoning and discordant with a gracious God?
Perhaps that is what we wait for in this tension between the first advent of Christmas and the final advent at the close of the age. It doesn’t all make sense but Jesus’ response is to tell the disciples to testify to John about the changed lives that they see. Perhaps we need to testify and to hear testimony particularly when we are feeling unsure, despondent, cut off and at the end of our rope.
God, stir up faith in us as we wait for the final reconciliation. Help us to know your healing and to be proclaimers of your healing and to be agents of your healing. Amen.
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